Xiao Wu was startled by the scene of blood and tears before her.

She cherished DJ Yan with optimistic love, seeing only his good qualities as her absolute standard. So when this man shed his usual icy facade, and she saw the blood between his fingers, she could only draw one conclusion: DJ Yan was so good to his fans!

However, when Yan Xi used his snow-white suit jacket to wrap Ah Heng coughed: “That one could work.”

Yan Xi gritted his teeth: “That one doesn’t.”

Ah Heng rested her face in her hands, smiling: “Really… willful.”

Alright then, I wish that when I wake up tomorrow, Yan Xi and I will have only had a two-year-long dream.

Back then, Dad was still alive.

Back then, Yan Xi and Ah Heng, young and naive, held onto time, thinking it would last a lifetime.eng up tightly, Xiao Wu suddenly felt like someone pretending to play the Yu flute had appeared – Mr. Nanguo had suddenly emerged, creating disharmony.

She swallowed and tried to force a laugh while attempting to pull Ah Heng back. She wanted to say “Ah Heng, we should go home.” But the young man wiped the blood from his fingers onto his pants leg and politely extended his hand to her, saying: “All this time, Wen Heng has been under your care. I’m very grateful. Another day, I’ll certainly pay my respects to Uncle and Auntie.”

Xiao Wu awkwardly reached out to shake his hand. Wow… it was as smooth as jade like in her fantasies. But, but! That wasn’t the point! Something wasn’t right – why did she suddenly feel like an outsider? That was her sixth sister!

Xiao Wu asked Ah Heng: “You know him? You knew him before?”

Ah Heng sniffled and laughed: “No, I don’t.”

Having just regained her spirits after emerging from the cold elevator, she felt playful and childish. Tilting her head, she asked him softly: “Who are you anyway?”

Yan Xi replied: “I’m just a passerby A, you’re passerby B. Eight hundred years ago you were my youngest daughter – does the young miss still remember?”

Xiao Wu suddenly remembered something and spoke incoherently: “Phoenix! Ah, I know now – you’re the phoenix!”

Ah Heng’s face reddened slightly, remembering the joke she had shared with her dormmates: A foolish crow fell in love with a golden phoenix. It plucked its black feathers and inserted fake ones trying to get close. As time passed, the fake feathers fell out, leaving it unable to hide its shame. Unable to bear its increasing ugliness before the phoenix, it could only flee far away.

Yan Xi naturally couldn’t understand. He only remembered gripping that other hand in his palm, that hand he had long forgotten, forgotten for so long. Whether it was chapped and red from winter cold or gentle from tasting flavors while cooking, the lost years melted in his palm, leaving only blankness in his mind.

Xiao Wu got excited: “Can I have your QQ, phone number, and home address?”

Yan Xi took out his pen, tore off a piece of paper, wrote down his address, and handed it to Xiao Wu with a faint smile: “You’re welcome to visit anytime.” In the next moment, his beautiful eyes silently gazed at Ah Heng.

Ah Heng laughed awkwardly: “I’m staying at Fifth Sister’s house now and won’t leave until winter break ends. When you’re free, we can go out together.”

She worried internally – that wasn’t too rude, was it?

Her belongings had all been moved back to the Wen household after Yan Xi left for America. That house no longer had any trace of Ah Heng.

Since it was eight hundred years ago, just a joke, how could you not understand that we’ve been through several cycles of complete transformation?

Yan Xi’s fingertips grew cold as he gently let go, lowered his head, and said: “Alright, goodbye.”

He wanted to say: “Just a moment ago, you were saying you missed me.” But he turned around, his back straight, his blue sweater eye-catching in the snow.

Ah Heng called out to him: “Your jacket.”

Yan Xi didn’t turn around, speaking coldly: “Why don’t you return my Ah Heng while you’re at it? Always so willful.” As he said this, his teeth chattered, his breath coming out cold.

Xiao Wu felt awkward – no one had ever called Ah Heng willful before.

Ah Heng’s heart ached: “You never told me what you wanted to do, what you wanted, how to be good to you, how to avoid making you lose things.”

Yan Xi turned around, looked at her, and smiled: “Wen Heng, open your eyes and look at me properly.”

He stretched out both arms, his thin and slender frame floating, lonely and forlorn. He laughed loudly, his chest heaving: “Besides you, what else do I have to lose?”

He said: “You leave whenever you want without a word – fine, fucking fantastic; you leave home taking nothing but your life – great, so principled; you come back and hide in a tree hollow refusing to see me – even better, fucking brilliant! Today was just a coincidence that I ran into Miss Wen. I’m so sorry, I should have taken a detour. I won’t disturb you, have a good day!”

Tears welled up in Ah Heng’s eyes, falling like beans: “Yan Xi, if I wasn’t afraid of causing you trouble, if I wasn’t-!”

Yan Xi sneered: “How come you weren’t afraid of causing me trouble before? One thousand and ninety-six days, by my side every day, taking care of everything from food to shelter – how come you weren’t afraid of causing trouble then?”

“You-!”

The child was too tongue-tied to argue back, and bullied until she was dazed. She wiped her tears with her sleeve – which happened to be Yan Xi’s suit jacket – making her even more annoyed. She took the suit and threw it at Yan Xi, crying and sniffling.

The suit jacket flew onto Yan Xi’s head, but he pulled it off, breathing heavily through his nose, his large eyes glaring at her as he shouted: “Good, fucking throw it well! I’m magnanimous enough to let you throw your tantrum!”

Ah Heng was so angry her teeth itched. She walked up to Yan Xi and grabbed his cheeks, pulling and pulling hard until the young man’s handsome face was completely distorted. Sniffling, she shouted back: “You’re so annoying, so incredibly annoying, even more annoying than before!”

Xiao Wu glanced over – she was quite willful.

Yan Xi held Ah Heng tightly in his arms and smiled like a doll at Xiao Wu: “She’s not being good, I’m taking her home. Fifth Sister, you go ahead and have a good journey. We won’t see you off.”

Xiao Wu thought: Who’s your Fifth Sister…

Looking at Ah Heng, who was like a child in Yan Xi’s arms, she couldn’t help but smile. Ah Heng’s entire expression had become clear and vivid, full of spirit, unlike her usual foggy inconspicuousness.

She sighed, thinking how Gu Feibai had such poor judgment.

Suddenly remembering the old stories Du Qing had told, she fell silent.

Perhaps the Ah Heng that Gu Feibai fell in love with was precisely the one by Yan Xi’s side?

Hopefully, he didn’t know.

Ah Heng kept wondering what the meaning of an embrace was.

In her life, she had received many embraces – familial love, friendship, romantic love – so many that it seemed if they accumulated, they could amount to proper happiness.

But only this one, so warm, with even her heartbeat feeling unfamiliarly polite, was unique. She couldn’t categorize it, so she could only call it: Mr. Yan’s.

Mr. Yan.

A teasing way of addressing him, suppressing some scattered feelings that couldn’t be gathered together. So later whenever Mr. Yan embraced her, she just… couldn’t bear to refuse.

This day, New Year’s Eve, was no different.

She sat in Yan Xi’s sports car, looking at the high heel imprint in the cartoon mat under the passenger seat. After some thought, she still opened the back door.

Yan Xi watched her through the rearview mirror, his lips thin, his eyes gentle, grown up now, marked by time. But suddenly he couldn’t bear to look, feeling he couldn’t see or touch her, as if the whole world had shamefully taken advantage of his girl while he was away.

He made a phone call, putting in his earphones: “Auntie, I have something to do and can’t come over for New Year’s Eve dinner. I’ll come to apologize tomorrow.”

Ah Heng looked out the window, looking and looking, pretending not to hear. What was she looking at? People coming and going.

She asked: “Where are we going?”

Yan Xi turned the steering wheel: “Your room still needs to be organized. Today let’s find a place to spend New Year’s first.”

Ah Heng thought for a moment and asked him: “Just the two of us, won’t it be too quiet?”

Yan Xi smiled, saying simply: “Having you and me, it’s good.”

He drove the car into the underground parking garage and took Ah Heng to Cutting Diamond’s front hall. Fortunately, entertainment venues had to stay open during New Year’s to keep people happy – they didn’t take holidays.

The waiter Xiao Zhou, who had been ridiculed by Yan Xi last time, still maintained good service quality and smiled warmly. He said: “Young Master Lu is also here. The old master has set up a family feast on the top floor. Young Master Yan and this young lady, are you going to the banquet together?”

Yan Xi paused slightly and smiled faintly: “Not together, no need to disturb him. Give me a room and a New Year’s Eve dinner, with extra desserts afterward.”

Ah Heng smiled. He still remembered she liked sweets.

Xiao Zhou saw Yan Xi’s empty hands and smiled: “Young Master Yan, didn’t bring your dog?”

Yan Xi’s lip twitched on one side, in an excellent mood: “The dog’s mother is here, I’m allergic to it now.”

Xiao Zhou was puzzled – you used to hold it in your arms and cherish it like a treasure, never saw you being allergic then.

After getting the room key, he led the two to the transparent elevator. Another group of people, well-dressed and distinguished, got into the adjacent elevator.

Ah Heng didn’t notice, only examining the building – complete murals, the Garden of Eden carved in irregular textures, gold, pearls, agate, the tree of life, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the encircling Pishon River flowing vividly, crystal chandeliers hanging from high ceilings, sparkling like elves.

She pointed at the beautiful Adam and Eve in the mural and said to Yan Xi: “So beautiful, they look like real people.” But Yan Xi’s entire body had become somewhat rigid, his gaze fixed on the elevator on the other side, transparent and completely visible.

There seemed to be an icy gaze.

Ah Heng suddenly realized and turned around, but Yan Xi completely blocked her, wrapping her in his arms, saying softly: “Don’t move.” He pressed his lips together, his knuckles white, remaining silent, even his breathing carrying subtle urgency.

Ah Heng’s voice was muffled: “Yan Xi, what’s wrong?”

Yan Xi saw the fine hair by her ear, his heart softening considerably. He tightened his arms, closed his eyes, and smiled: “Nothing, just want to hug you.”

Ah Heng reached out and pulled his ear: “Yan Xi, there should be propriety between men and women.”

Yan Xi laughed, his lips very close to her forehead, saying: “Please, I’ve never thought of you as a woman.”

Ah Heng: “I know, when you hug me, you always treat me like a little brother.”

Yan Xi snickered: “Soft and fragrant, just like the baby I held on the plane. Little brother? You’re flattering yourself.”

Ah Heng put on a stern face: “Ahem, Mr. Yan, I feel my dignity has been seriously damaged.”

Yan Xi’s lips drew closer to her forehead, an almost imperceptible kiss, an intimacy he didn’t notice, so righteous as he gently stroked her head: “Alright, alright, Little Brother Wen, I’ll let you have an extra piece of cake later.”

Ah Heng said helplessly: “I feel like we’re not from the same world.”

Yan Xi raised an eyebrow: “What does that matter? I think being in the same world as you is enough.”

The elevator suddenly stopped, the other one continuing straight to the top floor, barely missing them. That prying dark gaze also disappeared completely.

Yan Xi released his arms, and Xiao Zhou, who had been pretending not to see anything, finally spoke: “Young Master Yan, we’re here.”

Yan Xi looked at him coldly and said quietly: “Whatever Lu Liu asks you, no need to hide anything, just tell the truth.”

When Ah Heng came out after a hot shower, she couldn’t find slippers, so she stood barefoot on the wool carpet, leaving water marks.

Her hair wasn’t dry yet.

Seeing the table full of good food, she smiled: “Yan Xi, I’m ready, let’s eat.”

Yan Xi frowned, took a large towel from the bathroom, sat down beside her, and then covered Ah Heng’s hair with the towel, gently rubbing the water from her roots.

Ah Heng looked at him very gently, very very gently.

Yan Xi was annoyed, deliberately using the towel to cover her eyes, rubbing roughly, making her hair a mess.

Ah Heng started laughing: “Yan Xi, my nose itches… itches… achoo!”

Yan Xi’s eyes widened: “Next time if you come out without drying your hair, I’ll hit you.”

“Then next time I definitely won’t dry it, let’s see if you hit me.” Ah Heng fell back laughing on the wool carpet.

Yan Xi pressed his lips together, pretending to be angry: “I will, really well. If I don’t hit you, I’ll hit myself.” He reached out to pull her up, affectionately rubbed her nose, and said, “Always feel like you’ve gotten smaller.”

Holding her in his arms finally gave him peace of mind.

Ah Heng thought for a moment and smiled: “It’s you who’ve gotten older.”

Yan Xi raised his eyebrows: “Perhaps.”

They ate, the table full of exquisite dishes, the surroundings quiet. Yan Xi felt guilty: “Ah Heng, making you spend New Year’s Eve with me like this…”

Ah Heng looked at him: “Yan Xi, only you would give me such a paradise.” Tears shimmered in her eyes, gentle as brocade.

Yan Xi understood her and brought a crystal-clear dumpling to her lips: “I’ll stay up with you for the New Year.”

You and me.

The end of one year, the beginning of another. Someone sings a song, with you and me, not speaking of eternal love, not wanting to waste the spring light.

Ah Heng nodded, the dumpling entering her mouth as tears fell down her face.

Outside the window, white snow drifted and danced, like the original color of this world.

The clock struck twelve.

2003.

Firecrackers exploded, and fireworks bloomed like trees, at their most magnificent.

“Ah Heng, Ah Heng, let’s make wishes.” He said this, his tone truly peaceful, like peaceful music.

Ah Heng said: “I hope for world peace, for children in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to eat white sugar cake, wouldn’t that be nice.”

Yan Xi smiled: “That wish from five years ago doesn’t count.”

Ah Heng said: “Will whatever I say come true?”

Yan Xi smiled: “I’ll try my best.”

Ah Heng said: “Let me earn more money than the world’s richest person.”

Yan Xi shook his head: “That one, no.”

Ah Heng said: “Let me become the world’s richest person.”

“That one, no.”

“Let me marry the world’s richest person.”

“That one, also… no.”

Ah Heng coughed: “This one could work.”

Yan Xi gritted his teeth: “This one, really no.”

Ah Heng rested her face in her hands, smiling sweetly: “Really… how willful.”

Alright then, I’ll make my wish – when I wake up tomorrow, I hope that Yan Xi and I will have only had a two-year-long dream.

Back then, Dad was still alive.

Back then, Yan Xi and Ah Heng, young and naive, held onto time, believing it would last a lifetime.